The formerly plush multi-million pound mansion Sarah Ferguson lived in with her lover after splitting from Prince Andrew was pictured in a shameful state of disrepair
Sarah Ferguson, the ex wife of Prince Andrew, has once again found herself at the centre of a scandal after a grovelling email to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein was exposed.
Just days after publicly vowing to cut all ties with the convicted child sex offender in 2011, she sent him personal apology in which she described the American financier as a “supreme friend”.
Since the Epstein communication has come to light, Fergie has been dropped from a string of children’s charities, leaving her financial and royal position in jeopardy. But this certainly isn’t the first time the Duchess of York has faced public condemnation.
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In 1992 Sarah was pictured on holiday in southern France with her young daughters, Princess Beatrice and Eugenie alongside Texan multimillionaire Steve Wyatt. She had previously sparked rumours of an affair with Wyatt after images were leaked of the pair on holiday together in Morocco.
The Duke and Duchess announced their separation the same year and Sarah moved into a plush mansion in Surrey. She took refuge with her children at Romenda Lodge on the exclusive Wentworth Estate where there is also a golf course.
The woodland estate and its sprawling piles have been home to many of the rich and famous, with names such as Sir Elton John, cricketer Kevin Pietersen, Sir Bruce Forsyth and even The Sultan of Brunei among numerous celebrities who have lived there.
Fergie was also joined in her home by her new boyfriend John Bryan. Although she was trying to lie low she caused a huge uproar when she and the American financier were pictured cavorting at a villa in St Tropez. In one of the now infamous snaps a topless Duchess was seen having her toes sucked by the balding businessman who was said to be helping her arrange her financial affairs.
Bryan moved into the rented £4,000 per month mansion with his new lover and in 2022 spoke about the four years he spent there with Fergie and the Princesses. He revealed that Princess Diana would visit, bringing Princes William and Harry to see their cousins.
He also claimed the Queen would have tea at the house with her grandchildren, who were protected there by a large team of royal security.
“Most of the time we stayed home,” he told the Mail. “It was a gated community. We had 16 royal protection officers – four people working for eight hour shifts, so 12 every day with four in reserve. They were there to protect the granddaughters of the Queen.
“There was a beautiful building at the back converted into an office for the officers with banks of cameras. One person was always in there, two would roam around and one would always be in the house with us. They became part of the family.”
The resplendent 1930s detached house had five bedrooms and was once extremely plush. Thousands of pounds was thought to have been splashed out on renovation when Sarah moved there.
Architect Tchaik Chassay and interior designer Nina Campbell were reportedly hired to do the house up. According to The Sun, Campbell said at the time: “It’s a very country house, but with style.”
Long after Fergie, who now lives in Royal Lodge in Windsor with her ex-husband, left the home, it was bought in 2019 for £4.1m by Alistair and Margaret Erskine. Pictures taken in 2020 by an urban explorer show the former royal residence in tatters.
The large kitchen, where Fergie may have once made the Queen and Diana cups of tea, has a multifunctional central island with a sink and units still intact, although plaster is falling off the walls and scraps of material are hung at the windows to prevent prying eyes.
Other images from inside the house show bathrooms with marble-tiled sinks and floors, while a sauna looks remarkably intact. Carpet with John Lewis stamped on the underside has been ripped up in living areas which look out onto the sprawling overgrown grounds.
An empty indoor pool is seen with a filthy cover sunk into it and grubby tennis balls litter the lawn. A fish pond in the grounds is pictured with tiles missing from the border and an ornamental lion reflects the faded grandeur of the place as it sits perched in the undergrowth, covered in green moss.
The house was demolished shortly after these images were taken and permission to build a new two-storey eco-friendly building was granted by Runnymede Borough Council. Renewable and low carbon technology had to be incorporated throughout along with electric charging points and rainwater harvesting. The massive neo-Georgian design has split storeys with a sunken basement, garage and vast floor to ceiling windows.
